


Proto Gems

by RainDropCropTop



Category: Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crossover, Crystal Gems, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, This is shameless, also breaks SU cannon by now, archie comics universe, crossposted on ff.net, it's a thing, robot suffering, this is going to eventually have more chapters, when I get around to it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 08:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8571439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainDropCropTop/pseuds/RainDropCropTop
Summary: A Steven Universe/Megaman Crossover. Blues has been wandering for far too long, and he happens upon the one group of beings like him. Different. (Archie Comics Megaman, Blues gets away from Wily before he becomes Break man. Steven Universe is Post Cluster)





	

He didn’t know how long he’d been walking. The pistons in his legs were spent, puttering and clattering in their casing. Sweat dribbled from underneath his long, matted hair while he staggered next to the ocean, staring at the water and tempted to take the plunge off the cliffside. 

 

No. Stop that. You left to avoid that. 

 

His joints ached as he took out one last recovery can from the olive duffel slung over his shoulder, brushing against the daffodil scarf wrapped tenderly around his neck. His prized object was worn and dirty, covered in soil from the times he’d had to run. 

 

In the seaside air, the final can clicked open, sizzling as the liquid reacted to the outside world. As he set the bag down, Blues felt the world jerk and spin, and he found himself staring at the can as it spilled across the hardy grass that was currently stabbing his legs under his grey bodysuit. 

 

He must have done it again. His power… it wouldn’t last much longer, not after he got away from that man. Pouring the last remains of the powerful liquid down his parched throat, he got up, forcing his tired body to continue.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“What the…” 

 

Blues stopped in his tracks, staring at some kind of… creature before him. It was large and sharp, glassy and bowlegged and covered in spikes. Blues noticed the danger, prepared to engage. Pulling his… oh. His buster. 

 

Blues sent a panicked look at his right arm, pushed in painfully as punishment for his escape. 

 

It had been destroyed by a compactor… 

 

While he was looking at the mangled limb, the creature roared, noticing Blues and charging like a clockwork doll. Glossy limbs were skittering on the ground, clicking as it floored Blues, knocking off his shades. 

 

“Tck…!” Blues took in a sharp breath as his vision failed him, the glasses flying off into a tree. “I can’t-” His sentence was broken as He was thrown down on the ground again, earth flying into his face as daggers sank into his fragile and underpowered body.

 

He felt a horrible heat behind him, suffocating and blinding, and his body wouldn’t react to the struggles in his mind to do, he didn’t know what to do…   
His core throbbed as he sparked, not able to hear himself scream as his hearing systems had failed along with it. His voice whimpered before cutting off from the blast. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Something was carrying him. It held him in large, heavy hands as he tried to breathe. Blues knew he was sparking everywhere, but the person holding him seemed totally immune to the damage. They set him down at the base of a tree, the vague figure not visible through his… 

 

His shades. Where were his shades? What was he going to do without them? 

 

He tried to get his hands to fumble around, but they weren’t responding, and without his shades he couldn’t see, and he couldn’t hear, and he couldn't see… 

 

Something exploded around Blues and he sat there terrified and helpless, unable to do anything as something (someone?) came near his unresponsive body. As a hand rested on him, a large shock of pain jolted through Blues. He was leaking power, the last of his life trickling out of his body, and there was something that he couldn’t see. It would surely destroy him or break him to pieces, and it horrified Blues to his core. 

 

Father…   
His last thoughts rang inside his head around the flashing. Large, fat tears started to drop from his useless eyes. More hands found his body, creating more sharp pangs as they grabbed him. A horrible feeling of dread surrounded Blues as he felt the ground leave his body, leaving him exposed and weak.

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Whoa!” Steven stood in a clearing of the forest near Beach City, bubbling the gem of the corrupted creature that had been rampaging there. Pearl gasped as Garnet walked calmly out of the brush, carrying… something. Some kind of human that was twitching and sparking, letting out small whimpers as Garnet held him closer.   
“Who is that, Garnet?” Amethyst jumped down from a tree, wearing a pair of cracked sunglasses that didn’t quite cover her eyes. “Is it that weird guy the monster was attacking?” 

 

Garnet nodded. 

 

The figure let out a couple of soft moans and twitched, trying to move. He looked young, no older than Steven, but different than any human the gems had seen. Thrumming with electricity, the boy had large, gauntlet-like hands and feet, covered in a hard plastic casing. The limbs were covered in grime and filth like the rest of his body, and his right arm was dented considerably. The rest of him was coated in a grey, tattered bodysuit, exposing rusted machinery underneath.   
“What the heck is that?” Pearl squinted in confusion, pointing a slender finger Blues’ broken arm. “I mean, it’s not human.” 

 

“Whatever it is, it’s banged up pretty bad, P.” Amethyst stared up at Pearl, shrugging. “Might as well try to help it.” 

 

“Him.” Garnet said, brushing off Blue’s sticky hair. “It’s a him.” 

 

“Did you use Future Vision, Garnet?” Steven bounced on amethyst’s hair, krenning for a better look at the new arrival. Garnet nodded in reply, and Steven started with stars in his eyes. 

“Pearl. We’re going to need your expertise.” Garnet’s voice was level, but a little too level. She was worried sick, and Pearl glared in determination. 

“Let’s get him to the temple.” Pearl said, standing up to her full height as Amethyst stretched her body out. 

 

“What happened to him? Is he going to be ok?” Steven tried to touch the boy, but Garnet lifted her hands up quickly, wincing in empathy as the boy whimpered and jolted again. 

“Amethyst. You and Steven go to your room and get some tools.” Pearl and Garnet jumped to the sky as the two gems stared at them. 

“Ok, you heard P!” Amethyst smirked as she transformed into a giant dogcopter, eliciting an excited gasp from Steven. “Get on, Ste-man!” 

 

Amethyst and Steven got there first, running into the purple room as quickly as they could.   
“Pearl said for us to get some tools for that guy, so we gotta do it.” Amethyst flopped onto a nearby couch, picking her teeth. She knew about Pearl, and how crazy prepared she was, so finding tools wasn’t a concern. It was Steven. 

 

“Hey, do you think he’d like this thing?” Steven held up a hacky sack, tossing around the bean filled bag as Amethyst uncovered a piece of meat that looked questionable at best.   
“I dunno,” She moaned a halfheartedly before swallowing it whole.   
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Is it- he- some kind of machine?” Pearl was running back and forth in the house while garnet still held the boy close. He was nervous, covered in a thick sheen of sweat and moving slightly. His eyes were darting all around, yet focusing on nothing. Garnet hummed at the strange movement, closing hers for a second before it all came into focus. 

 

Grey… Future Vision was showing a lot of grey, and a pair of sunglasses… 

 

“Hey.” Garnet said softly, laying him down on the large coffee table in the home. “Can you see?” The boy groaned at being shifted, eyelids drooping over his eyes. Those eyes continued looking forward, mouth twitching as he tried to talk. 

 

“Hold up your finger if you can hear.” One of his mangled fingers somehow moved, and Garnet touched it gently. “Can you see? Move your finger if you can.” The finger didn’t move, and Garnet’s fears were confirmed. 

 

“We’re going to repair you.” Garnet didn’t miss how his eyes flew open and his body struggled to move, regardless of the amount of electricity crackling around him. “My friend learns fast. She’s just getting her tools.” 

 

“D- d- don’t.” The boy’s voice garbled and crackled as he spoke, and his neck craned away from Garnet. “I… I… don't.” 

“Shhh.” Garnet her hand to his cheek, wiping off tears from his face. His eyes widened when she did that, flinching and trying to pull away from her touch. “It’s ok. We’re not bad. We’re just going to get you online, Blues.” 

 

Blues stiffened like a cat, growling and unable to fight back. More tears came, this time with a hiccup and a look of pure fear. 

 

“Whoops.” 

“Oh, Garnet!” Pearl rushed out of her room, walking past the door as it melted together. “I got everything. We should be good for the most, um, brutal parts of the operation.” Blues froze,, sightless eyes pleading for Pearl to stop. 

“Oh, look, he’s eager for me to begin!” Somehow, Blues got his face to scrunch up even more. “Garnet, would you do the honors?”   
“It’s ok, I’ll get you under control.” Garnet was reassuring before putting her hands into Blues’ chest, absorbing the spare electricity from the broken core. “It’ll all be fine when you wake up.”  
Blues let out a moan from underneath them, eyes closing shut. 

 

Garnet held one hand out to a spare battery Pearl had lying in her gem, letting it take the runoff from the barrage of electricity. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Pearl talked to the robot as she took a pair of scissors to the bodysuit, cutting through the soft, fake skin underneath. “Garnet can only channel so much energy, and I need to get you to an.. Operating? Living? State. Aaaand He’s gone.” 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Hey, we’re back!” Steven burst into the house from Amethyst’s bedroom, carrying a giant bag of things he found. 

“Oh, it’s him.” Amethyst entered seconds later, still wearing the showy sunglasses. “How’s he doin?” 

“We have his arms and legs operational,” Pearl was moving the soft latex over his left arm, smoothing out the synthetic skin before putting the giant red gauntlet back on his forearm. “But his core is almost cracked. The most I can do is a temporary patch.” 

“He’ll be here in the morning.” Garnet showed no emotion as she hammered the case of the right arm back to its original shape, laying the partial limb on the kitchen counter. “Don’t worry, Steven.” 

“Why you fixing him, anyway?” Amethyst picked up a spare gear and twirled it. “I mean, it’s not often that Garnet of all people just brings someone here.” 

“Amethyst!” Steven scolded her, tapping his little sandals on the wooden floors. “He needs our help, obviously.” Steven walked over to the unresponsive face, painted with dirt and matted hair. His eyes had gone still, frozen in an expression of terror with his brows stitched together and a silent scream on his face. 

“Oh no, tears.” Steven was disturbed when Garnet reached over his tiny body, closing Blues’ eyes and massaging his mechanical nerves to a relaxed state. “That’s better.”   
“Steven, I’m going to do something that you might want to look away from.” Pearl’s voice was dead serious as she stood over the completely wrecked arm of her patient.   
Garnet held Steven close as a large crack resounded in the tiny house, followed by the sound of clanking metal.   
“Is he gonna be ok?” Steven hugged Garnet closely as Pearl made another loud bang. He snuggled into the fusion’s arms, breathing heavier than normal. Garnet petted his small head before humming.   
“He’s going to be here for a while.” 

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

*REBOOT IN PROGRESS*

 

*REROUTING POWER FROM CELL 3*   
*STANDBY FOR ACTIVATION* 

 

Opening his eyes, Blues didn’t know what to expect. Actually, an endless pool of mixed up browns and whites was the best he could hope for, after an attack like that. How the heck did he survive, anyway?   
“He’s up, He’s up!” A boy was yelling somewhere around him, the prepubescent voice reminding him of his own young brother.   
How is he, dealing with that man? Alone…

 

Suddenly he was hit by a force, thrusting him deep into the soft material he was lying in.  
“How you doing, robot guy?” It was the boy, scaring him senseless as someone else walked forward.   
“Who’s there?” Blues immediately flung up his right arm, but it was lighter than usual. “You disarmed me? Where are my glasses?” He felt the energy in his gut sink as the boy seemed to disappear with a giggle.   
“Pearl, don’t do that! It tickles!” The boy’s laughter was unnerving in this mysterious place, making Blues unable to do anything but watch the red and white blobs move in his swimming vision.   
How could you let your guard down so much? It’s not like you’re back at… stop. You don’t belong there anymore. Stop thinking about him. Stop it, stop it, stop it…

There was a noise somewhere in between a whoosh and a pop, and three other presences joined the room, a purple one that laughed with a cackle and a rogue one that was absolutely unreadable. The third was… small. The least threatening. Holding the stub of his arm, Blues tried to sink into the soft blankets surrounding him.   
This was too much to handle. Not this much all at once. 

“So!” Another voice, this one nasal and squeaky, interrupted his thoughts. “Where’s the machine you guys found in the woods?” Blues felt every part of him stop for a split second as he was sure the entire room was looking at him. 

 

“He’s over there.” It was the purple one. “Be careful, he’s pretty banged up from earlier.” 

 

“Wait.” The rogue one. The one that had captured him. It was coming over here, and he couldn’t do anything but run, he had to run, he had to get away just like last time, “Don’t run.” The being sat next to him in the cushions, her weight dipping into the soft fabric.   
“We’re trying to fix you.” 

 

“I dDon’t need to be fixed.” Blues spat the words out, standing and jumping back from her. “Don’t change me.” His words were spoken with a venom that sounded sad coming from a young boy. 

 

“We aren’t trying to change you, we just want to help.” The boy spoke, freeing himself from the white being. Blues was sure that those things weren't human, they didn't seem right.   
“Where’s my arm?” Blues asked warily, trying to be as intimidating as he could, but feeling like an ant in a spider’s web. “My shades? I’m not going to ask again.” He started to step back, but fell over some object, slamming on the hard floor and seeing stars. 

 

A hand from the rouge being touched him, sending him on edge before slowly bringing his tense body upward. Was he even upward?   
“Here.” She said, putting her hand in front of Blues’, letting him feel around the unnatural ridges that lined it. In her hand were his shades, and Blues immediately grabbed them, putting them right over his eyes and behind… his well kept hair. 

 

Everything went into focus in a second, the cabin like house, the strange woman sitting next to him, the boy and his ecstatic jumping. He felt instantly better, but still edged away from the large woman. She had good taste in headwear, though.   
Taking a glance down at his arm, which was indeed a stub, he tried to inspect the room for some kind of exit… There!   
Bursting through the screen, Blues ran out onto the beach as several of the women yelled at him. He didn’t have much time until-!   
The woman, the one from before with the sunglasses, landed in the sand in front of him, cutting him off and making him slide under her. Sand grated into the open arm, and Blues winced at the invasion. He stopped for a second, which was time enough for another woman to grab him and hold him into the ground.   
“I’ve got him!” The second woman was dressed in blue, covering her pasty skin in a ribbon. Blues gritted his teeth, pushing upward as she exclaimed, knocking her down. He skidded on the shifting earth before getting surrounded by a hard, abrasive rope.   
The purple one was smirking and holding it taut as the burgundy one approached Blues, who renewed his struggle. Small sparks started to fly out of his core, a warning that he didn’t have time left, but she was getting closer…

 

“Hey. Stop.” The woman called, bending down to the robot child’s level with ease. “We aren’t going to hurt you.”   
“Then how did you know my by that name?” Blues gritted his teeth as he tried to keep it together. “Who hired you?”   
“No one hires Garnet.” The woman, Garnet, stood up, adjusting her glasses. “Money means nothing to a being of eternal existence, living off the energy of the universe.” Blues’ inner 12 year old forced him to gape his mouth open at the majesty of her.   
“I have Future Vision.” She bent down again, making Blues back away to the best of his ability before Garnet could kiss his forehead.   
It was a flash of information, inside the house on the beach he saw his buster on a table, being taken apart by the small green being, and the boy jumping up and down as he uncovered a sand dollar. It was over as quickly as it came.   
“Whoa.” Blues let that leak out of his mouth as Garnet let out a chuckle. She put out her arms, picking him up and cradling him there. He fought for a second, but it felt so good to be hugged after so long.   
“What are you going to do to me?” He whispered as she set out to the house.   
“Nothing you don’t want us to.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is shameless and I hope you enjoy this as much as I did writing it lmao


End file.
